1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally pertains to liquid cooling devices. In particular, it relates to a lubricant cooling apparatus for cooling lubricant or the like used for an external device, such as a mechanical-type seal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In industry there are numerous situations wherein materials are contained in a container such as a reactor vessel at superatmospheric pressures and are acted upon through rotating or even reciprocating shafts. Consequently, the pressurized vessel must retain the pressurized material without leakage as well as to enable lubricants to flow to the moving shaft to provide lubrication for the latter. Conventional approaches which have been taken in the field for the purposes of preventing leakage which also providing for a sufficient supply of lubricant to the shaft include, for example, stuffing boxes and double mechanical seals. Although double mechanical seals have been in widespread use and generally suitably serve such purposes, they nevertheless suffer from the shortcoming of not being able to effectively cool the lubricant employed.
One heretofore known attempt to adequately and effectively cool such lubricant includes cooling of lubricant by positive water circulation; however, this approach requires the use of a separate water circulation system. Another attempt to overcome the known shortcomings associated with cooling the lubricant in a double seal arrangement was directed to the use of natural convection cooling of the lubricant under pressure. However, this attempt required the assistance of a rather bulky and expensive heat exchanger. Similarly, other known techniques and devices for cooling the lubricant were found to be inadequate by reason of their bulk or operational and construction expense.
A particularly successful approach employed for overcoming the theretofore known difficulties was a Self-Cooling Mechanical Seal Lubricator disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,067, closed May 11, 1971. The Self-Cooling Mechanical Seal Lubricator disclosed in my patent is highly efficient, compact, and at the same time, inexpensive. Moreover with my developement, sufficient quantities of cooled lubricant were available for circulation, and loss of lubricant did not adversely affect cooling efficiency. Despite the rather significant advance in the state of the art provided by this Self-Cooling Seal Lubricator, it was not, in general, as simplified in construction and as economical as could otherwise have been desired.
Accordingly, I have invented a novel and improved self-cooling lubricator apparatus which is structurally less complicated and more economical in construction and use than heretofore known devices. While the present inventive apparatus may cool lubricants and the like, it nevertheless provides a cooling capacity which is at least equivalent to, if not better than the prior art devices.